


better than birds of a feather, you and me.

by paleromantic



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Angst, Body Dysphoria, Cuddling, Dysphoria, Flirting, Fluff, Kind of a vent fic, Kissing, Light Angst, M/M, Soft andrew, Trans Andrew Minyard, Trans Male Character, Trans Neil Josten, Waffles, andrew loves neil and that's just the truth, let's be real mostly fluff, lots of fluff, pride and prejudice - Freeform, they love each other and it's good
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-11-29 00:52:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18215984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paleromantic/pseuds/paleromantic
Summary: Andrew knew almost as soon as he woke up, that it wasn’t a good day.His skin felt a little too small for his body, and when he moved to sit up the feeling of his chest moving made his stomach bottom out. Beside him, Neil was still curled up with his hand stuck under Andrew’s pillow, his other hand tangled in the sheets wrapped around his middle.





	better than birds of a feather, you and me.

**Author's Note:**

> This started out as a vent fic but then just turned into a bunch of fluff and soft andreil, here u go

Andrew knew almost as soon as he woke up, that it wasn’t a good day.

His skin felt a little too small for his body, and when he moved to sit up the feeling of his chest moving made his stomach bottom out. Beside him, Neil was still curled up with his hand stuck under Andrew’s pillow, his other hand tangled in the sheets wrapped around his middle.

Andrew swallowed, and then pushed the nausea down, lifting himself out of the bed and going to turn the shower on, letting the water heat up. It would take a minute or two, since Kevin had probably already showered- The man got up ridiculously early even at the weekends, Andrew often heard him leaving the dorm when it was still dark outside. Then, taking care not to wake Neil, he grabbed a clean pair of boxers, a mostly clean binder, and one of Neil’s oversized Foxes hoodies that he had collected over the years.

He showered with the lights off, keeping his eyes shut and humming softly while he washed himself off. He kept it fast and efficient, not letting his hands linger long enough to feel his body very much at all. He dried off and dressed in the dark too, wiggling into his binder and just managing not to get stuck in it. He wasn’t sure if he could handle having Aaron or Neil help him into it, not that day. After that, he slid his boxers up his legs and made sure that they sat comfortable, before pulling the hoodie on to complete the look. The oversized garment covered the few curves that he had left, falling below the waistband of his boxers and leaving him more of a shapeless blob than anything else. It was _perfect_.

Neil was still asleep when he returned into the dark room, so Andrew crawled back into the bed. His hair was mostly dry but the last of the dampness was still clinging on, so he sat up and settled for letting Neil cuddle into his leg until the man finally woke up.

“Morning.” Neil sat up and stretched, before looking Andrew over and frowning. “You showered already?”

Andrew nodded. “Needed the binder.”

Neil bit his lip. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Neil nodded and then leaned over, careful not to touch against Andrew’s chest as he did. “Do you want to be left alone?”

Andrew considered it, but ultimately pushed it aside. “No, I’m fine.”

Neil chuckled and then pushed the blanket away, letting it bundle up around Andrew’s waist and keeping his bare legs warm.. “Breakfast in bed, then? I can make waffles.”

Andrew hummed noncommittally , and then shrugged to match it. Neil took it as a yes, and padded quietly out of the bedroom towards the communal kitchen. Nicky had gotten them a waffle maker just a few months earlier, to fill space in the kitchen after Matt had taken his fancy coffee machine with him- They didn’t need another coffee machine, since Kevin, Neil and Aaron drank theirs black and Andrew and Nicky preferred to get theirs from the coffee shops on campus. Neil and Andrew had made a lot of use of the waffle machine since, and Neil was really starting to master the art of waffles. Andrew’s stomach rumbled idly at the thought of hot, fresh waffles, and he huffed before getting out of bed and making his way out to the kitchen.

Neil looked back from where he was making batter, his face breaking into a wide smile. “Hey, I was going to bring them to you in bed, babe.”

Andrew shrugged. “Got bored.”

“Chop up some strawberries for me?” Neil finished stirring the batter and then turned the waffle iron on, grabbing butter from the fridge.

Andrew grabbed a cutting board and then pulled the strawberries towards himself, making quick work of the tops of them, chopping them into slices so that Neil would be able to use them. Then, he snagged the bottle of heavy cream that Nicky had left in the fridge, dumping it into the blender to whip it a little. By the time he was finished, Neil had already turned the waffles out onto plates for the both of them. They were a little burnt around the edges, but Andrew wasn’t picky.

He brought them over to the table and put them down, taking the plate of strawberries with a smile and a soft thanks. Andrew felt some of the fuzziness in his head starting to subside, and he distracted himself from the warm feeling that brought to his chest by drowning his waffles in Nutella, adding some strawberries on top to complete his masterpiece. Neil watched him disapprovingly, before reaching over to pick it up and take a bite. Andrew saw the exact moment that the full wave of sweetness washed over his tongue, because Neil winced and them grimaced, putting it back down.

“How do you _eat_ that?” Neil shuddered, and then took a sip of coffee. “Jesus.”

Andrew rolled his eyes and then lifted his fork. “Every time you make waffles, you take a bite of mine and say the exact same thing. Your learning curve is actually a downward one, Josten.”

Neil snorted and then arranged his strawberries on top of his waffle, adding some whipped cream to stick them down. “Maybe I just want you to eat healthier, Drew.”

“Maybe you should mind your own business.” Andrew took a mouthful of waffle, and chewed contentedly; It was hard to feel dysphoric when you were eating fresh waffles, he had found. Neil wasn’t being serious either, which helped. He left it to Kevin to critique Andrew’s diet- Neil was just happy that Andrew was eating. Bee had particularly liked that, when Andrew had told her about it. She had said it was sweet. She had always had a soft spot for Neil, though.

So had Andrew, but he supposed that at this point it was less of a soft spot and more of a soft… _everything_. He had gotten sappy in the years that they had been dating. Aaron would have mocked him, if Aaron wasn’t just as bad as him with his little cheerleader. Katelyn, as Neil cheerfully reminded him whenever he referred to her as such.

“Did you want to go outside today?” Neil stabbed a wayward strawberry with his fork and popped it into his mouth, letting Andrew watch the way his mouth moved as he chewed. “The holiday drinks are out in coffee shops now, we could go try them out.”

Andrew almost laughed. “You mean I try them out, and you drink a black coffee and judge me?”

Neil offered him a bright grin. “Exactly.”

“Mm, maybe later.” Andrew didn’t really feel up to so much social interaction, so many opportunities for someone to misgender him. He wasn’t exactly sure if he would be able to handle it, even with Neil there with him. “Kevin downloaded _Pride and Prejudice_ onto his laptop, we could watch that.”

“2005?” Neil heaped more cream onto his waffle, and then cut it up to eat it piece by piece.

Andrew shook his head and washed down a mouthful of chocolate and strawberries with coffee. “1995, the series.”

Neil smirked. “Colin Firth?”

Andrew glared at him. “Shut up.”

“Yeah, we can watch that.” Neil hummed. “Kevin’s laptop is in the bottom drawer of his locker, I can go grab it while you finish up here and we can watch it in bed?”

Andrew nodded and then shoveled more waffle into his mouth, watching as Neil went back into their shared dorm room in search of the laptop. He finished quickly after that, gathering the things they had used before dropping them into the sink. It was Kevin’s turn to do the dishes that day, and Andrew sure as hell wouldn’t be letting him forget it, not when Andrew had had to clean up after Kevin had tried his hand at making traditional Irish stew the week before. They had only narrowly avoided not setting off the fire alarm, and the burned stuff on the bottom of the pot hadn’t come off for Andrew until well into the night. Kevin could handle some plates and cutlery.

He groaned and stretched upwards as he walked out of the room, pausing to cough once and wiggle until the binder sat comfortably again. It was a pain, but it was necessary- sometimes, Andrew craved the pressure on his chest when he was feeling particularly anxious. Hopefully that would lessen once he had gotten top surgery though, and he could just settle for wearing compression shirts to the gym. He gave himself a moment to fantasise, before shaking his head and going in to where Neil was waiting for him. Neil had found the laptop and already crawled into bed, the open thing propped up on his lap while he typed furiously on his phone.

“What happened now?” Andrew sat into the bed, pushing his cold toes against Neil’s warm feet and making the man hiss. Aside from the love and mutual trust, the main reason that Andrew kept him around was as a space heater for this very reason.

Neil grumbled. “They want us to go and see a movie with them later, but I told them we’re not going and they can just go without us.”

“You can go with them if you want, Josten. I’m a big boy, I can take care of myself.”

Neil looked at him and frowned. “I’d just spend the whole time wanting to be back here with you, which is stupid.”

A bubble of something that could have been happiness rose in Andrew’s chest, and his cheeks went pink. “That’s a little gay, Josten.”

Neil rolled his eyes. “Shock and horror, Drew. You want to watch this thing or what?”

Andrew wriggled down, resting his head on Neil’s shoulder and leaving a kiss there. “Ready when you are.”

The video player started up, and Andrew entertained himself by wrapping an arm around Neil’s torso and fiddling with the edge of his sleeve, tugging it and twisting it between his fingers. Neil just hummed, and then pressed a soft kiss to his hair.

Andrew moved back up to rest his head properly on Neil’s shoulder, pausing to kiss Neil’s cheek and follow his cheekbone down towards his mouth. “Thanks.”

Neil grinned like Andrew had stolen him the moon. “Are you feeling better?”

Andrew thought about it. He could still feel the tightness in his chest, but he was slowly becoming convinced that that would be there more often than it wasn’t until he could finally allow himself the recovery time that he needed to get his chest done. However, the foggy feeling in his head and the all encompassing apathy was starting to fade slightly, and he counted that as a win. He won a lot more often than he lost nowadays, too.

“Yeah, a little. Shut up, Colin is speaking.”

Neil laughed, a bright and happy sound that made Andrew’s heart stutter for a moment. “I love you too, asshole.”

Andrew shoved his face away, before curling up against him again. After a couple of seconds though, he slid his hand into Neil’s and brought it up to his lips, kissing the scar tissue there the way that he knew made Neil happy. “I do love you, though.”

Neil brought a hand up to scratch at Andrew’s scalp, making him let out a low pleased sound like a cat. “I know.”


End file.
